The Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge World Archaeology)

333 Pages·1994·27.61 MB·English

by  Oliver Dickinson

Oliver Dickinson has written a scholarly, accessible and up-to-d,te
introduction to the prehistoric civilisations of Greece. The Aegean
Bronze Age, the long period from roughly 3300 to 1000 Be, saw
the rise and fall of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations. The
cultural history of the region emerges through a series of thematic
chapters that treat settlement, economy, crafts, exchange and for
eign contact (particularly with the civilisations of the Near East),
and religion and burial customs. Students and teachers will
welcome this book, but it will also provide the ideal companion for
serious amateurs and visitors to the Aegean.
CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY
THE AEGEAN BRONZE AGE
CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY
BRIDGET AND RAYMOND ALLCHIN The Rise of Civilisation in
India and Pakistan
CLl VE G AMB LE The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe
ALASDAIR WHITTLE Neolithic Europe: a Survey
CHARLES HIGHAM The Archaeology of Mainland Southeast Asia
DAVID W. PHILLIPSON African Archaeology: Second Edition
SARAH MILLEDGE NELSON The Archaeology of Korea

CAMBRIDGE UNiVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Delhi
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CBl 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
vrww.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/978oj21456647
© Cambridge University Press 1994
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1994
Fourteenth printing 2008
Printed in me United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
J.ibrary of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Dickinson, O.T.P.K. (Oliver Thomas Pilkington Kirwan)
The Aegean Bronze Age / Oliver Dickinson.
p. em. - (Cambridge world archaeology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
TSTIN 0 521 24280 0
I. Civilization, Aegean. 2. Bronze Age-Aegean Sea Region.
3. Aegean Sea Region-Antiquities. I. Title. II. Series.
DF220.D49 1994
939'.r-dC20 93-2666 ClP
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for me persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables and other
factual information given in the work are correct at the time of first printing but
Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such
information thereafter.
To Tania and Edmund, who have been living with this book
for a very long time.

CONTENTS
List of illustrations page x
Preface and acknowledgements XVII
List of abbreviations XXI
Introduction
Terminology and chronology 9
2. The natural environment and resources 23
3 The first human populations 30
4 Settlement and economy 45
Arts and crafts 95
Introduction 95
Pottery ror
Non-ceramic vessels and furniture 130
Architecture (a) buildings (b) other structures 144
Frescoes 164
Figures r68
Jewellery and ornaments 179
Seals 188
Writing 193
Weapons and armour 197
6 Burial customs 208
7 Trade, exchange and overseas contact 234
8 Religion 257
9 Conclusions 295
Bibliography 310
index 333